Movies look great on a digital projector. But who'll pay for it?

Steven Soderbergh wants you to see movies the way he sees movies. When he and his cinematographer finish a film, they lift it out of its chemical bath and take it to a projection booth for its first and most perfect screening. The color and contrast are true and bright from edge to edge, free of dust and precisely in focus. "Nobody, including us, ever sees it that good again," says Soderbergh, the Oscar-winning director of Traffic and Erin Brockovich. "Even after that first screening, it's got dirt on it and scratches." It's one of the sad facts of life for...